A delightful evening of dining with Bell’s beer on August 3 at Tess (2499 N Bartlett Ave., 414-964-8377) which is one of the hidden gems of Milwaukee’s east side. Here’s the menu from restaurateur Mitchell Wakefield and local Bell’s rep Paul Moebius – the guest speaker will be Marty Compton from the brewery HQ in Kalamazoo – just 20 seats left out of 75 for the evening – tickets are $48 per person which includes tax and gratuity and the chance to win special Bell’s beer gear!

Here’s tonight’s menu for a first-ever beer dinner from Triskele’s Restaurant, in Milwaukee’s Walkers Point neighborhood, featuring craft brews from the Upper Midwest – to reserve a seat, call 414-837-5950:

Prince Edward Island Mussels in Bison Blonde Lager w/Fresh Shallots and Fried Parsley
Served w/Water Buffalo Bison Blonde Lager

New Glarus ”Totally Naked” Cheddar Fondue w/Grilled Usinger’s Polish Sausage and Caraway Crostini
Served w/New Glarus Totally Naked Lager

Roasted Vidalia Onion Salad w/Fresh Chives and Bacon Vinaigrette
Served w/Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale

Grilled Beef Short Ribs w/Founders “Dirty Bastard” Scotch Ale-Tomato Glaze and Smokey Blue Cheese Potato Croquette
Served w/Founder’s Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

Dark Chocolate-Apricot Torte with Butter Walnut Brittle
Served w/Sand Creek Oscar Oatmeal Stout

Mmm, taste-testing recipes for Thursday’s class at Larry’s Market in Brown Deer – am excited to be back teaching under the big tent in the beer garden – we’ll sample grilled Juusto bread skewers with pineapple and peppers in a brown ale glaze and other treats served hot from the barbecue. Just $25 per person, and for more information, contact Larry’s Market, 8737 N. Deerwood Dr., Brown Deer, WI 53209, 414-355-9650  or email – bigcheese@larrysmarket.com

Now that it finally feels like summer, Wisconsinites are out grilling in full force – and there’s even a Grilling with Beer competition set for Wednesday night in Appleton, at the Radisson Paper Valley hotel – featuring professional chefs from area restaurants and caterers. The cook-off is sponsored by Wisconsin Distributors, and will feature beers from Goose Island, New Belgium Brewing Co. and more. Chefs are being creative in cooking with beer, such as Big Tomatoes’ Fat Tire Brined Pork Eye with Pomegranate-Ale BBQ Sauce served with grilled sweet corn and poblano peppers,  or the grilled Goose Island Urban Shrimp with a 3-1-2 Punch.

I’ll be there, both as a judge and as a guest author, signing copies of The Best of American Beer & Food, and Grilling with Beer. Tickets are $15 – contact Brian Eschenbauch, 920-733-8000 x1511 for details.

Jim Javenkoski of Arcadia Ales and the James Beard award-winning filmmaker, Gaylon Emerzian, whose documentary, Living on the Wedge, is all about artisan cheese, will join Sara Hill of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board in a guided tasting at Provenance’s Logan Square location (2528 N. California Avenue, Chicago) from 7-9 p.m…wish I could be there! Here’s a write-up from Chuck Sudo and best of all, it’s free to attend and taste.

This menu from a Philly chef sounded both whimsical and wonderful – proving that craft beer and food pairings can be playful:
Philadelphia’s Supper restaurant is kicking off National Picnic Month on July 1 with a special Happy Hour, offering a dozen different modern interpretations of Deviled Eggs and special pricing on cans of Sly Fox beer.  The deviled eggs will be offered individually for $1 apiece or diners can order all 12 varieties for $9.  For $3 more, picnic-lovers can add a can of Sly Fox Beer, such as Pikeland Pils, Phoenix Pale Ale or Royal Weisse Ale.

Chef-owner Mitch Prensky’s unusual and classic interpretations of deviled eggs, a perfect picnic food, are at once innovative and familiar.  In keeping with the restaurant’s farm-to-table menu, Supper’s deviled eggs are prepared with locally sourced ingredients.  “Our deviled eggs are the perfect summer treat,” says Prensky, who counts more than 20 varieties of deviled eggs in his repertoire and uses top quality chicken eggs for his deviled creations.

The 12 tempting offerings will include:  Sriracha Deviled Egg with pickled daikon, carrot and coriander;  Pistou Deviled Egg with ratatouille;  Horseradish Deviled Egg with steak and Roquefort;  Deep-Fried Scotch Deviled Eggwith country sausage;  Wasabi Deviled Egg with uni and crispy nori; Saffron Deviled Egg with salt cod and roasted garlic; Black Truffle Deviled Egg; Chevre Deviled Egg with asparagus; Lobster Deviled Egg with dill crème fraiche; “Bacon and Egg” with braised bacon and Cheddar; Smoked Chile Deviled Egg with roasted corn-red onion salsa; Vadouvan Spiced Deviled Egg with roasted cauliflower and mint.

For more information about Supper’s deviled eggs or their National Picnic Month kick-off celebration, visit www.supperphilly.com.

Exciting times for craft beer and food – the SAVOR festival is sold out and I’ll be there in DC, signing books and sampling some truly amazing pairings – and next Sunday, June 7, we women will have our summer fun at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln in beautiful downtown Bay View…for a women-only tasting of the spritziest summer pilsners, $15.  Call Sugar Maple at 414.481.2393 to reserve!

Sure, a cookbook might be a fun gift for Father’s Day, and you can get a personally signed copy at SAVOR in Washington DC this weekend.  But for the dad who prefers to drink beer instead of cooking with it, consider a set of tickets to the American Craft Beer Festival produced by BeerAdvocate and held at Boston’s beautiful Seaport World Trade Center. As the inspiration for many of the chef interviews and beer combinations featured in the cookbook, I recommend the festival – and the thriving and diverse Boston and Cambridge MA brewpub and tavern scene.  Visit bostonusa.com and cambridge-usa.org for hotels easily accessible by the T.  During the summer, it’s fun to stay near the waterfront – the Boston Logan Hilton is an all new property, very clean and modern, with access to the Seaport via T, and the Charles Hotel on the banks of the River Charles is just a short stroll from the T – and close to some of the best beer-food destinations such as Cambridge Common, Cambridge Brewing Co. and Craigie on Main.

From the Restaurant Intelligence blog:

Local chefs will unite at Goose Island Clybourn for a special dinner on May 20 to benefit Swan Creek Farm’s George Rasmussen, who lost his truck, trailer, generator and a substantial amount of food in a fire on April 24 while making deliveries to Chicago restaurants.

The family-style dinner will be held at Goose Island Clybourn’s Siebel Hall at 7:00 p.m. and will be a nose-to-tail, farm-to-table meal with Goose Island beer pairings. The meal will feature dishes from John Manion of Goose Island Clybourn; Chris Pandel from The Bristol; Rob and Allie Levitt from Mado; and Mindy Segal and Mark Steuer from HotChocolate.

The evening will include a silent auction for a barbecue extravaganza in which Chefs Paul Kahan, Koren Grieveson, Mike Sheerin, Tim Dahl and Brian Duncan are all donating their cooking skills to make a dinner for 15 people. Bidding for the barbecue package will only be available at the beer dinner.

In addition, that night organizers will launch an online auction where guests can bid on opportunities to have individual chefs come to their homes and cook them a beer dinner. Participating chefs include Food & Wine‘s 2007 Best New Chef Paul Virant of Vie; Dirk Flanigan of The Gage; Troy Graves of Eve; Suzy Crofton of Crofton on Wells; Cary Taylor of Chaise Lounge; Ryan Poli of Perennial; Randy Zweiban of Province; Food & Wine‘s 2008 Best New Chef Koren Grieveson of avec; Food & Wine‘s 2008 Best New Chef Giuseppe Tentori of BOKA; Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno; Rick Gresh of David Burke’s Primehouse; Carol Wallack of Sola; Gil Langlois of Chalkboard; Brian Huston of The Publican; Chris Pandel of The Bristol; Rob and Allie Levitt from Mado; Bill Kim of Urban Belly; Mike Sheerin and Tim Dahl of Blackbird; Amalea Tshilds and Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe; Mark Mendez of Carnivale; and “Top Chef” winner Stephanie Izard, who will be the chef of the forthcoming Drunken Goat. Rodney Alex will donate a private wine tasting at Juicy Wine Co. that will include 20 wines and a big hunk of roasted meat. The online auction kicks off at the May 20 event and will continue until May 28; the online auction link will be available shortly.

On May 28 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Goose Island will host an event to close the online auction. The silent auction winners also will be announced. Entry fee is $35 and will include complimentary beer and snacks.

Tickets for the May 20 beer dinner cost $100, inclusive, and proceeds will benefit Rasmussen. To purchase a ticket, call (312) 915-0071.

Kristi Switzer, publisher of Brewers Publications, plans to be in Washington, DC for SAVOR – and is bringing books for several author signings – and I plan to be there with cookbooks! It will be an exciting new venue and set up for the SAVOR craft beer and food festival. Hope to see you in DC, cheers!